Piano Man
by Vanessa S. Quest
Summary: Slight spoilers for season 6, Reid wasn't completely honest with Rossi about NEVER playing the piano before... okay, so he technically was.


Rossi had asked point blank if he had ever played piano, and while Reid hadn't out-right lied when he said it was really just math… that wasn't entirely true to what he felt about the wooden and ivory and metal instrument his fingers rested on.

He had never played the piano, or the keyboard… but he had daydreamed and table-top piano'ed solos of Beethoven hundreds of times, his eidetic memory and his sense of musicality timing what he had seen to learn his favorite pieces.

There was no way he'd admit something as embarrassing as that. As a small child and chess prodigy, one would only assume he'd be given the chance to play the piano as well, but his mother abhorred the noise of a music store. She had once attempted it, for the sake of her son, but then the door chimed with a guitar rift and she started screaming about what those songs told people to do- were telling her to do- and was subsequently requested to leave. After that, the piano was a scratched-out hope that the young boy realized just was not going to happen.

It wasn't embarrassing that he had never played the instrument he admired, he was sure Aaron couldn't do more than play air-guitar to the Beatles, or was that motif out of date? Now he could Guitar-Hero it. Reid could personally 'air-piano' a tune perfectly, PERFECTLY, but he never bought a piano because he held on to some silly- alright, that's being giving, a CRAZY affiliation of going into a store as an affront to his mother. His mother he knew to be unwell in mental health and he's afraid of hurting her feelings even though she'd only hear it through him if he opted to tell her.

He looked at the key board, the budget of an FBI agent wasn't going to swing rent AND a baby-grand piano, but this would do for him, for now. Maybe he could save up for it.

Unboxing the keyboard, Reid felt the eyes of Jack land on him, "What're you doin' Spencer?"

He patted Jack on the head, coaxing him with soft nudges towards him and the box. "I'm putting this together. See that stand there?"

Jack shook his head, "Those look like crutches."

"Kind of, yeah, well, I'm going to assemble the base and then put a keyboard on top of it, it's so I can start playing it. Do you want to give it a try?" He smiled at the six year old as his eyes lit up mischievously.

"Daddy said you're not good with tools…"

"I can handle an Allen wrench," He smiled, filing that under something to bring up to Aaron in private chastising things like that about him- no matter how accurate they were, weren't things he needed parroted back by a six year old. It hurt his esteem.

There was a last-minute scramble after putting the stand together in search of four D-batteries, for crying out loud, he was pretty sure they only sold them in two packs in the gas stations that even sold them in the immediate area- but Jack found the battery stash and three D-batteries, a fourth subsequently found in a different stock-pile before they were rewarded with the green shining light underneath the on button.

"Jack, have you ever heard Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?"

The boy nodded emphatically, "Yeah, we sing it in school sometimes."

"Do you want to learn how to play it on the keyboard? I can show you if you'd like."

Spencer wasn't sure what was wider, Jack's eyes or his own smile. For the next thirty minutes Spencer knew the joys of poorly pressed keys until Jack mastered the song with his supervision. Sure it was one-hand piano, but the boy was six and this was Spencer's second time playing in like ever, so he'd take the win.

Aaron came home to Jack masterfully playing the song on his own while Spencer drummed along on the cardboard box. His eyebrow shoots up, he had heard Dave mentioning that Spencer had never played the piano before his musical breakthrough with Sammy; however, he hadn't heard that Spencer liked it.

"Hey Jack," he gave his son a hug, "Hey Spence…" He gave Spencer a quick peck then eyed the keyboard. "That looks pretty new."

"You don't think it's juvenile that I'm picking it up as a hobby, do you?" He raised his eyebrow starting to seriously debate if maybe this was a mistake…

"Are you kidding? This is great, I've been meaning to get Jack started in music lessons, if you don't mind him practicing on yours this would be a perfect opportunity for it."

"I could uh… probably teach him…" Spencer let his tone hang to test the waters.

"I thought you never played before?"

"I can read the music, and secretly, I've wanted to play for ages… I just…" He blushed, Aaron was smiling at him in a way that seemed funny. He really was acting childish wasn't he?

"Spence, I had no idea, would you play something for me then?"

His chest tightened and stomach erupted in butterflies, "Uh, sure… I can't promise if it's any good, it's just how I hear it in my head… so, it's an educated guess at best, really… but…" Aaron ushered Jack over to the side as Spencer sat at the keyboard, he cleared his throat. "Beethoven, I'm sorry…" He mutters upwardly as he starts playing the double-handed score to Ode to Joy, Beethoven's 9th.

It lasts for 7 minutes, Spencer mentally keeping track with the lyrics to the song but not daring to butcher it with his voice, he couldn't add insult to injury of such a beautiful song. Aaron leaned in and kissed his ear.

"Dr. Spencer Reid, resident expert on everything, especially pianos." He whispers softly, "Next round of introductions to the LEOs, what do you think? Should I add that in?"

"Really…? It wasn't too… bad?"

"It's good, it's really really really good!" Jack said in excited tones.

"Jack, when you think someone did well playing music, you say Bravo. Bravo, Spencer, Bravo."

"Bravo! Bravo!" Jack emulated turning Spencer into a tomato-red hue.

"Encore, Encore, Bravo…" Aaron added, Spencer, smiling toothily started up the score to the last movie Jack had been watching. By the end, Jack was singing along and when Spencer finally let the music die down he leaned up and kissed Aaron.

"I love you." He mentioned breathlessly, "You take something as puerile as getting a keyboard into something fun and practical." He laughed.

"Spencer, it's quirky, but it's not inexplicable. Well, your ability to play it as well as you do being the second time you played is a little, but it just confirms how amazing you are. I love you too, I'm going to work on dinner. Mac and Cheese acceptable?"

"That would be perfect." He smiled.

Fin.


End file.
